Effluent Treatment Plants (ETP)

An Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) or Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) is a unit plant where various physical, biological and chemical processes are used to change the properties of the waste water by removing harmful substances in order to turn it into a type of water that can be safely discharged into the environment.

Textile dyeing washing industries need huge quantity of water for textile dyeing and washing section, which they normally pump out repeatedly from the ground water sources, resulting in depletion of ground water level. In the dyeing process textile industries generate huge quantity of toxic effluent containing colors, sodium sulfate, sodium chloride, sodium hydroxide and traces of other salts. These are generated after dyeing and washing of garment fabrics. After dyeing the waste water produced is called Dye Bath water and after washing the waste water generated is called wash water. Dye Bath contains higher solids in the range 4-5% whereas wash water contains only 0.5-1.0 % solids.

The existence of waste water and the need for wastewater treatment is not a new problem. Wastewater is generally looked upon as a negative resource, both from an aesthetic perspective and because of its characteristic bad odor. Of greater importance when considering the need for treatment is the fact that untreated wastewater led into a natural water body constitute a great hazard for the environment and a health risk for human and animal life. The environmental risk is mainly due to overloading of physical and chemical components associated with human activity into an aquifer.